Two days ago, Cox Newspapers published an article with the headline, “Emotional defense mechanisms can go awry“. Hap LaCrone, a clinical psychologist in Texas, writes:
“Defense mechanisms are strategies or manners in which we behave or think to protect or “defend” ourselves from painful thoughts or feelings. We all use them periodically in an attempt to deal with the world around us.
Utilizing these defenses appropriately can be useful and helpful. However, all too often, their usefulness is extended beyond the boundaries of good mental health.”
Hap describes three defense mechanisms: rationalization, denial, and intellectualization.
Original Source: ajc.com/services/content/health/stories/2008/11/06/lecrone_emotional_defense.html
Archive of Dr. LaCrone’s columns: https://haplecrone.com/
Are you aware of your emotional defense mechanisms? Have you thought about how your emotional defense mechanisms serve you – the ways they’re helpful and ways they’re not?